Haha, I guess I'm having too much fun writing this so I quickly updated with the second chapter. Also, I added more to the first chapter, so if you haven't read the new text I suggest you do it before reading this.

NOTE: Keep the following in mind when reading the story.

- "talking"
- 'thinking'

Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 4 or any characters in it.

CHANNEL 2

#The Detective's Hat#
{Naoto-kun's case}

Wednesday, April 25th of 2012
- Cloudy

The team spent the days following the beginning of the school term hanging out after school and making plans for the upcoming year. Since the exams were weeks away they decided that this was the best time for them to have a little fun while they had the chance, as they knew that once exams closed in everyone would look as gloomy as a sky with no sun. Kind of like the day it was that day – cloudy, dark and no single trace of a ray of sun. It was expected to rain later that day.

Two weeks had already passed since the first day of school when Naoto met Yosuke by the shoe lockers that morning. He had walked from his house like always again, keeping that idea of his that one day he was going to have a motorcycle and use it to go anywhere he wanted. He had been changing his shoes when he took notice of the short detective and after closing the locker door he walked over to her side just as she closed hers.

"Yo, Naoto! How's it going?"

Shirogane looked at him and nodded. "Good Morning, Yosuke-sempai." She turned on her heels to head over to the stairs.

Yosuke walked alongside her, keeping his hands in his pocket and showing off a goofy grin. "Last encounter was fun, wasn't it? For a first, Teddie looked completely lost of what to do! But it was his fault that he ended up without dinner…" He moved his arms up and placed his hands behind his head. "It's great that that guy's having no problem keeping up with the pace. He seems to be enjoying the school way more than he should."

Naoto nodded and readjusted her hat. "It's no surprise since it is Teddie we are talking about. However, I am concerned about his studies." A hand reached her chin in a pensive way. "He has spent an awfully lot of time having 'fun' and, it would seem, no time to do school work."

"I can't blame him for that." Yosuke said with a shrug. "Oh, wait there was something else I needed to talk to you about…" He paused for a moment before saying. "That's right! Hey, Naoto! You know, when I once told you last year how you weren't quite perceptive to other people's feelings?"

Naoto looked up to him. "Yes. I remember you saying something along those lines… If I remember correctly it was around Oct-…"

"Yeah, yeah! Whatever!" Yosuke threw his hands in the air. "I mean, seriously! I thought you'd change after this whole time! Dude, last time when we all got together, Kanji…" He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. They stopped once they reached the second floor. "Look. It doesn't really concern me but I was shocked you brushed off Kanji so easily after he went out and suggested fixing your hat. What's up with that?"

At that, Naoto took of her hat to take a look inside it. It was no denying it. She had had that old cap for years and it was finally showing signs of being well-worn. A few strands were broken and the cloth was slowly tearing away. In honestly, she had previously refused Kanji's help for fixing her hat because she felt attached to her hat and didn't trust anyone with it. Besides, she couldn't stand not having her hat with her and she pretty much didn't have evidence that Kanji was quite capable at this sort of things. What if he only made things worse?

"I just… this hat is very precious to me." She couldn't find words to describe her view of things.

That was the final cue to him, a proof that indeed, Naoto hadn't improved much from the last time they had a conversation regarding her perceptions. "Come on… we're not talking about your hat here." The school bell reached their ears and Yosuke grunted in response. "Anyways…. Nah, forget it." He waved a hand at her. "I gotta go upstairs, I'll see you around."

Naoto placed the hat back over her head and nodded in response, beginning to wonder if there was something she had been missing. She frowned, not liking the idea that something seemed amiss. She was supposed to be a detective, so how could she let things get pass by unnoticed while others apparently looked liked they knew what was going on?

It was lunchtime and the seven of them was all seated at the rooftop eating their lunch. Most of them had finished theirs already and waited for the rest to finish (like Rise who rather talked instead of eating). Naoto was seated beside Rise, a little far off to the side, her hat in her hands as she analyzed the new deformations on her most prized possession. The hat had been a gift from her grandfather when she started assisting him with his cases so she was devastated to realize that the more she wore it now the more she was ruining it. Perhaps it was time for her to stop using it… maybe it would last longer if she kept it save in her house. But part of her refused the idea since she believe the purpose of her hat was to be with her at all times, like something that declared she was a detective.

Inspecting the cap closer, she noticed a stain at the back of the hat on the inside. She rubbed a finger over it and frowned when it didn't come off. She couldn't let there be a stain now… Why did it look like everything was fighting for her to just stop using the hat? She would need to go to the bathroom and see if she could get it off.

"Uh, if you'll excuse me." She said, catching the attention of the others. "I need to go for now." Her eyes fell on Kanji and Rise. "I'll see you back in the classroom."

They watched as Naoto stood up and exited the roof through the door. Once she was out of sight Rise turned to the others with a smile with a mix of business-like tone in her voice. "Alright, guys, she's gone. We were actually hoping to discuss this after school, but this fits even better."

Yosuke groaned a little. "Rise, finish your lunch…" He waited until the girl placed another piece of food in her mouth to continue. "You mean about Naoto's birthday, right? Come to think of it, how do you suppose she'd like her party? I don't see Naoto as a party-person, if you get me."

Chie scratched her head lost in thought. "I see what you mean. Last time we had fun at that nightclub Naoto-kun didn't seem that comfortable. I guess she was out of her element there." She frowned. "And something tells me she's not going to be that happy if we make that big of a deal."

"Why don't we have a party over inside the TV?" Teddie suggested from his position. "Nao-chan seems to really enjoy anything that has a mystery ring to it and we did solve all of our cases there."

Yosuke shook his head. "Nah, that won't do. We made a promise that we wouldn't go back there without Souji unless we really needed to. It just doesn't feel right… and I doubt Naoto would enjoy it either. Most of us feel a little awkward where we confronted our Shadows."

"But if we go by what she likes, we may be looking the wrong place. It ain't like we can relate murder cases to parties. Birthdays are supposed to be a good thing." Kanji spoke up. "We should go by what would make her happy."

Rise nodded in agreement. "Yeah, like something she holds very dear. This will be the first time celebrating her birthday with us so we better get her to cherish the day."

"I think Naoto-kun would be happy with a simple dinner together." They all turned to face Yukiko who had just finished voicing her opinion. "Naoto-kun dislikes being a burden to others and I believe that, to her, what would really matter is the thought itself. She hates being alone so a moment with her friends is all she really needs."

"I agree with Yukiko. This is Naoto we're talking about. But then, where should we hold the dinner?" Yosuke glanced around.

They all turned their heads when Teddie shot his hand in the air as if he was in class. "Teddie thinks we should hold it at Nao-chan's house. That way we can surprise her and it wouldn't be a problem for Nao-chan to return home since she lives a little far. And we should bring Nanako-chan with us as well."

It didn't sound bad to Kanji's ears but he wasn't so sure about this. He didn't want them to make a mess at her apartment. "But, will she be okay with this? What about the food?"

Chie smiled at this. "Oh, we could make the food together just like last time." Yosuke and Kanji cringed at the suggestion. "We succeeded the last time we worked together, so I'm sure this time it'll be easier. And I bet Naoto-kun will enjoyed spending time with us there."

"Dude, seriously! What if Mystery Food X makes a comeback?" Somewhere in his stomach, Yosuke felt it twist.

Rise giggled by Kanji's side. "Oh, don't be silly! Naoto-kun's a perfectionist when cooking. It was thanks to her that we got that cake to be delicious. She kept telling us to keep trying until we got it right."

"If you say so…"

They all exchanged glances as if reaching a decision, then Yukiko spoke up. "I guess we all made up our minds? In two days we'll meet again just before dinner time by the Maryukyu tofu shop and catch the bus at the Central Shopping District."

Kanji grunted. "Seems fine with me."

"Teddie agrees!" The bear beamed, waving a hand in the air again.

Yosuke nodded and stood up. "I guess that does it." He turned to face Rise. "You're done eating, Rise?"

She nodded with a smile. "All done! Let's go, I can hear the school bell."

"Uh, what are you doing, Naoto-kun?"

Rise and Kanji both stood there at the back of the classroom, watching Naoto as she kneeled on the floor and looked around the room. Earlier during afternoon classes, Rise noticed the other girl had been searching under her desk and chair as if she had lost something. She also noticed Naoto looked disheveled while she searched the whole place. But Rise wasn't stupid, she had a suspicion of what the detective might have been looking for.

Naoto didn't stop her search not even when the other two addressed her. "My hat." She said as if to point out how obvious the situation was. "I'm sure I left it on my desk…" She secretly hit herself in her mind for leaving her hat alone for a while. She didn't use her hat during the classes as a sign of respect, but that afternoon the teacher had asked her to fetch some material for their Math class and she wasn't sure if she had left it in the bathroom. She had inspected the last one right after class and there was no sign on her precious cap. It was like as if it had disappeared.

"Oh." There wasn't surprise in Rise's voice. "I was wondering if it was that…"

Naoto stopped then. Her back was facing them then and so she turned her head to look back at them. "You didn't take my hat, did you?" Man, Naoto could really be scary sometimes, but right then she had just surpassed the line of scary. They could practically feel the venom in her voice.

Both of them shook their heads furiously, taking a step back. "No, Naoto-kun. Why would we do that?" Rise let out a nervous giggle when she sensed the deadly aura coming out of the smaller girl.

Kanji gulped knowing well that they had to be careful around Naoto whenever she got angry. "I'm sure you'll find it soon, Naoto. If someone took it, well, you wouldn't have a problem finding the culprit either. You're good at this stuff."

Naoto turned to face them. She was standing by the teacher's desk talking and looking to the other two across the room. She opened her mouth to say something but then she paused and looked down, crossing her arms in the process. Yes, thievery would be the best explanation in this situation, and she came to believe it the more she thought about it. She just had lost her cool when she couldn't find her hat anywhere so now she decided to calm down and gather all the information her memory could tell her. Things didn't just 'disappear'.

"Want us to help you look for it?" Rise offered.

Naoto shook her head. No, this was a job for a detective. She would solve this mysterious disappearance of her hat as if it was any other case. She was a proud Shirogane and she would not fail this mission. "No. I'm quite capable of solving this case." The serious tone was back on.

'Case?' Both Rise and Kanji seemed confused at this.

"In any case, you must be busy with your families' business, so I won't be bothering you two." She hadn't missed Kanji's bag earlier which had looked more stuffed than usual and some of the fabric had been sticking out so she suspected the taller boy needed to head over to the textile shop and help his mother with the fabrics. Hadn't she refused their help he would still help her.

Kanji and Rise frowned but nodded and headed for the door. "Well, we'll see you tomorrow."

As soon as the other two were gone Naoto started working on the new case at hand. She walked over to her bag and took out a notebook and pen, listing down all the hints and information she could gather from that day and then studied from what she could come up with.

'I'll find you, thief.'

Thank you for reading. ~ 3